Cloud computing is an advantageous and future-ready tech that can empower enterprises and organizations of every size, across industry verticals, by allowing them to redirect resources towards innovation and development.
This is made possible by delegating the infrastructural requirements of storage and hosting to third-party cloud vendors at an affordable subscription model of pricing. If done right, cloud computing can have far-reaching benefits ranging from tech innovation to security improvements, cost benefits, and enhanced business processes.
The swift rise in the adoption of cloud services by a large number of businesses today speaks for its benefits.
As per a survey carried out by RightScale, private, as well as public cloud adoption, has gained considerable traction in the past year alone.
According to Gartner, this trend is expected to continue through 2020, paving the way for the adoption of cloud-first, if not cloud-only policies by most organizations. Migrating to the cloud is a sound way to run businesses in the present scenario. To understand why organizations stand to gain from cloud infrastructure, let’s know what cloud computing stands for and its role in running a successful business:
What Is Cloud Computing?
Cloud computing is a blanket term that covers a wide range of cloud-based models comprising a mix of software and hardware delivered via the internet. The term Cloud is used to describe a complex infrastructure abstraction that helps enable a network of computation, hardware, software, and remote services.
In simple terms, cloud computing allows users to access programs or applications traditionally stored on a computer or local server in a remote location via the internet. The entire concept rests on the premise that the actual computing tasks can be performed on a remote machine and accessed on a different one. To facilitate a seamless transition between such devices, the data transmitted during the process is stored on remote servers known as cloud servers. This takes the load off the machine being used to access and run operations and cuts the cost of maintaining a vast infrastructure capable of supporting an organization’s computing needs.
Advantages of Cloud Computing
Having understood the workings of cloud computing, it is also imperative to comprehend the benefits of the cloud for improving organizational operations in comparison to on-premise software and data hosting. Some of the top advantages of cloud infrastructure include:
Reduced Costs
One of the most lucrative aspects of cloud migration is a remarkable reduction in infrastructural investment and operational costs. With cloud infrastructure, you no longer have to cater to considerable investments in procuring and maintaining equipment. Migration to the cloud rules out the need to invest in hardware, utilities, and facilities for setting up and running your own data centers capable of supporting business growth. This also means you don’t need to sustain large IT teams for supporting your data operations. That aspect is taken care of by your cloud service provider. Since the likelihood of downtime with cloud systems is minimal, you can also cut back on costs incurred due to halted operations and subsequent spends on fixing these issues.
Data Security
Security of data has become one of the most pressing concerns of our times. Irrespective of the size of an organization or the industry vertical, every business today seeks to safeguard its operations against cybercrimes and data breaches. The advanced security features of the cloud guarantee that your data is stored securely, thus saving you from the devastating consequences of losing revenue, reputation, or customer base. Every cloud service provider sets up baseline protections such as encryption, authentication, and access control on their platform. These protections coupled with enhanced security measures on the organizational level are all you need to keep all of your data safe and secure.
Scalability
The requirements of an organization change with its growth trajectory. The logistics, infrastructure, or human resources requirements of a start-up, for instance, can be nowhere comparable to that of a large enterprise. For any business keen on growth (and that’s just every business), cloud-based services can be an excellent solution for scaling up operations and even scale down, if need be, efficiently and swiftly. Any company with fluctuating demands of bandwidth stands to benefit from leveraging the scalability of cloud solutions by increasing or decreasing cloud capacity almost instantaneously and without any infrastructural investments. This kind of unparalleled agility can give any organization a definitive edge over its competitors.
Disaster Recovery
Untoward incidents, natural disaster, or operational snags are an inevitable reality that everyone has to brace for. However, when such unforeseen disasters strike, it can lead to substantial losses for any company. While the failure of physical infrastructure can be dealt with, it is the loss of data that leaves a permanent dent in an organization’s structure and stability. Storing the data on the cloud, on the other hand, makes all your essential information immune to damage even in the face of the most unnerving disasters. With cloud services, you can count on quick data recovery in an emergency, be it a natural disaster like a flood or human-made trouble such as a fire or even something as simple as power outages. Cloud infrastructure delivers on the promise of prevention of data loss, something that a traditional on-premises approach can never match.
Mobility
Cloud-based infrastructure is also more in sync with the ways of modern times. Using cloud services gives you the ability to access essential data on the go via tablets, smartphones or any other portable device, allowing you to stay on top of your game at all times. This means you can collaborate with your clients, employees, or co-workers from anywhere and at any time, making the concept of logging into work computers to be at work completely obsolete. All the resources and information stored in the cloud can be accessed, processed, and retrieved with ease, as long as you have internet connectivity. This goes a long way in making the flow of operations quicker and hassle-free and facilitates businesses to employ the best human resources irrespective of their geographical location.
Aiming for the Cloud
These primary advantages of the cloud translate into secondary benefits, ranging from the scope for more streamlined collaboration to remote working, efficient multiple site management, and IoT readiness. It is not hard to see why the number of organizations making the shift from on-premise to cloud solutions is on the rise, year after year. After all, it is a simple solution that drives improved collaboration, productivity, security, and in turn, revenue.
